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If you are a wine enthusiast like me, there is one trip that comes just about as close to a religious pilgrimage for us as can be. That is a trip to the Bordeaux province, and more importantly, to the Médoc region. Having visited the area on a recent trip, I can also say that, regardless of how long you have been a wine enthusiast, there is a lot to be learned from a visit of the celebrated wine region.

First, I should say that in order to tour any of the five Premiers Crus, known in English as the First Growths, you would be dreaming, unless you make a reservation at least six months in advance, in some cases, even a year earlier.

On our hit list, first and foremost was Château Margaux followed by Château Lafite, Château Latour, Château Haut Brion, and the modern addition to the 1855 list of Frist Growths, Château Mouton Roschild.

We also wanted to have some more personal tours of other Great Growths in the area, some of whom are making wine these days that is as good as the First Growth elites, but which are much more affordable due to the lack of name recognition.

Whatever the case, you can’t tour any château in Médoc without getting the real up-close look at the classic Bordeaux wine making process and an in-depth understanding of the myriads of variables that come together to produce a great Bordeaux red.

We got a personal, not in a group, tour of two great wineries that I would like to recommend. Château Pontet-Canet sits just up the road from Château Mouton Roschild. They make wine that has been consistently scoring in the upper to mid 90s by celebrated magazines such as Wine Spectator. They were not only professional, informative and extremely friendly, but were classy enough to let us taste a bottle of well aged wine when it was at its peak; as opposed to many châteaux that will only serve the latest crop, which obviously is still very tannic and clearly not enjoyable.

A second personal tour we had was Château Prieuré Lychin, in the Cantenac Margaux region. They strive with great success to produce wine that is very classically Margaux with excellent marks as well. Their tour was very detailed indeed and loaded with information. Expect notable detail in the cellars, where you will learn of the different properties of the varieties of oak used to bring out the best potential of each years’ vintage, the periodic sampling and the oxygenation process. You can have a generous taste of both their first and second wines.

This trip is a must for all wine enthusiasts. There will be more to come on the classification process as opposed to other wine regions in France and maybe some of the details I gathered during this awesome trip.